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Game poacher faces federal pen By Mark Freeman A Jacksonville man�s 10-year career of illegal big-game hunting and thieving, plus his Mafia-like attempts at obstructing justice, should land him in a federal prison for the next five years, federal prosecutors claim. The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking the maximum possible sentence next week for William Dennis Danielson�s felony wildlife conviction. The 46-year-old Danielson, whom federal prosecutor Jeff Kent calls "Dollar Bill" for his anything-for-a-buck attitude, was convicted in April of illegally selling a set of Southern Oregon blacktail deer antlers to a South Carolina man for $2,500 in 1995. The same jury acquitted him of two other felony wildlife violations, capping what Danielson called a five-year government vendetta against him. Danielson maintains his innocence but said he is prepared to go to prison when he is sentenced Feb. 22 in Eugene. Danielson claims that Kent�s overzealousness to get a conviction led to violations of his civil rights and an unfair trial whose high cost shows the government went too far in banishing him from the woods forever. "They wanted me out of the business, plain and simple," Danielson said. "Let�s put it this way: When a set of deer antlers is worth $1 million, you tell me. "Jeff Kent got way out of hand on this thing," Danielson said. "All I can tell you is, Jeff Kent�s not finished." Kent also is not impressed by those claims, saying Danielson was "conscienceless" and had no one to blame but himself. "The simple fact of the matter is, Danielson provided enough fodder for any prosecutor to be appropriately zealous in prosecuting this case," Kent said in an interview. "He�s as sociopathic a defendant as I�ve ever encountered." In a sentencing memorandum filed in federal court, Kent asked U.S. District Court Judge Ann Aiken for the five-year federal prison term. Kent also asked that Danielson be ordered to pay for his federal public defender as well as all the costs accrued by Oregon State Police in their investigation of Danielson and the subsequent prosecution. Kent also wants Aiken to freeze assets of Danielson�s wife, mother and stepfather while authorities look further into allegations that Danielson has divested himself of his assets to sidestep paying for his defense, fines or any potential civil suits, court papers state. Aiken is scheduled to sentence Danielson after a morninglong hearing Feb. 22. Kent said he also will ask that Danielson be sent straight to prison, a grim fact that the now-free Danielson said he does not fear. "If they put me in prison, so be it," Danielson said. "I�m going to appeal and win the appeal." Danielson originally faced about two years in prison for the conviction. Danielson now stands accused in court documents of not only attempting to hide his assets, but of lying under oath at his trial, trying to bribe a witness and tampering with his jury. Kent also writes in his 53-page memo that, in his 25 years of prosecuting corrupt Chicago officials and Mafia figures, he has never experienced, or even heard of, obstruction of justice that "was as pervasive or multi-faceted as the obstruction in this case." The allegations include claims that Danielson has earned more than $157,000, either by helping people poach big-game animals or outright stealing or defrauding hunters in his guiding operation since 1990. The sentencing memo accuses Danielson of "about every type of hunting violation imaginable, and of about every imaginable type of theft, fraud and obstruction of justice," Kent said. "You name it, and Bill does it," Kent said. Danielson has not been charged or even arrested for many of the claims within the sentencing memo. But federal law allows them to be considered prior to sentencing. Danielson was tried on three felony violations of the Lacey Act, which bans selling, buying or transporting across state lines any fish or wildlife taken, possessed, transported or sold in violation of state law. Next week�s sentencing is separate from a pending felony theft case in Nevada that accuses Danielson of stealing $2,000 worth of ticket packets at a wildlife convention last year. The delay between Danielson�s April federal conviction and his upcoming sentencing was so Aiken could rule on Danielson�s request for a new trial. The request was based upon claims that a government informant elicited tape-recorded statements from Danielson about jury-tampering and witness-bribery. The tapes were used as evidence in court by Kent in an attempt to show that Danielson lied in his testimony. Defense attorney Bryan Lessley argued that the tapes violated Danielson�s civil rights because he was under indictment at the time and the tapes were not made available for Danielson�s defense. Aiken ruled that the tapes violated Danielson�s rights and they should have been turned over to the defense, but that they did not unfairly alter the trial. Danielson said it came down to whether Aiken, in her ruling, "burns me or she burns Jeff Kent." "I don�t care how she says it, I didn�t get a fair trial," he said. Kent scoffed at Danielson�s claims. "He has such a large mouth," Kent said, "and such a large foot to put in it." Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.